The Broken Wheel
by MEPond
Summary: The Doctor meets a previously unknown race distantly related to his own. He is the last of his race, and nature can be-well-insistent. Rated T for off-camera adult themes and nudity, because really, none of these people care much about modesty.
1. Chapter 1: Discovery

_Notes: All right, I've been an ElfQuest fan for a lot longer than I've been a Whovian, so if anyone was going to notice certain things, similarities and differences in certain biologies, it was going to be me. But I couldn't make it work the way I wanted without going a little bit out of the way. For the Doctor, nothing after "Angels Take Manhattan" has happened. For the Wolfriders, I had to bring in a new character because everyone else was taken. Believe me, I tried to make it work with an existing character, and it just wouldn't. It has been 200 years since Rayek stole the Palace of the High Ones and kidnapped Cutter's family._

_I hope you'll enjoy this. If you review, please sign in so I can respond to you personally._

_"ElfQuest Human/Writing"_

_Thoughts_

"Elfspeech/Anything the TARDIS is translating for the Doctor"

**Sending/Telepathy**

**DW**

The Broken Wheel

Chapter 1: Discovery

_They were known by so many names, all across the universe; First Ones, Lightwalkers, Eternals. Ancient Gallifreyans called them Bringers, because they brought knowledge and long life to their world. One of them had gotten left behind during their exploration of the young world, and that one mixed with a native woman. Her name was Tyron, and her daughters were the mothers of the first Shadow Walkers, time-sensitive ancestors to the Time Lords. All of Gallifrey eventually became part of their bloodline, and all gained telepathy and longer lives. But only the Time Lords, led by Rassilon, Omega and the Other, looked into Time itself, and lived._

**DW**

Amy and Rory were dead, killed by the touch of a Weeping Angel. They sent him letters once a week, putting them all in a safe deposit box and mailing him the key. He had decided to take the slow path with the letters, keeping them as alive in his head as he could. He only read one letter every seven days, keeping himself in sync with their time stream. But it had already been decades, and he had reached the last letter. Amy refused to write any more after Rory died, telling the Doctor that she didn't want him to watch her die. _"Just know that I love you, Raggedy Man, and I always will."_

That had been a couple of years ago. The letters were now in a box in the TARDIS library. He could visit them again if he wanted, but they were really just there to preserve them, to keep that last little bit of his friends alive in some form. He didn't even have their daughter anymore, not really. His timeline seemed to have completely passed beyond hers, though he occasionally found her echo from the Planetary Library poking around the TARDIS. He ignored that one, because anything else would be far too painful.

He was trying to stay active, but he knew it wasn't going to last. Someday soon, he would just stop, retire over old London, go down for a pint once in a while, and fade into obscurity for the rest of his life. This was his last life, and he thought it was probably time for him to retire, spend the next few centuries just watching where he couldn't do any harm.

But for today, he was exploring a primitive little world called simply Abode. There was a humanoid population that looked as if it was still in the Stone Age. Some few civilizations were beginning to build cities, but he chose an area where they were not. He wanted to walk in unspoiled lands, just taking in nature for a few days. This world would one day send people to the stars, but like Earth, its primitive beginnings were wild and beautiful, and not to be interfered with.

Currently, the Doctor was sitting on a blanket, just past the tree line in a meadow that was deep inside a massively forested area. A little stream trickled in the near distance, providing a quiet burbling noise that accompanied the local birds and small mammals. Above all that was the droning of various insects and a light breeze. The sun was just starting to go down, and fireflies were starting to make an appearance as the warm, fragrant air blew gently through the trees and grass.

It was idyllic, and he couldn't help but wish Rose was here with him, or Amy, or any number of other companions who would have appreciated the scene, but they had all gone for one reason or another; left him, left behind, or dead. He missed them all, and felt guilty about them all. He was no good on his own; he knew that. But all too often he felt as if he did them no good, like their lives would have been so much better if they'd never met him.

As the sun set, he heaved out a great sigh. He should head back to the TARDIS before it was too dark to see his way. Although, with two full moons in the sky ad no light pollution, seeing the way back really shouldn't be a problem. Standing, he heard the nearby howl of a wolf, and he thought it would probably be a good idea to hurry anyway. Not that he was particularly worried; the sonic was a good deterrent to a species with such good hearing. But better safe than sorry.

Reaching the TARDIS, the Doctor realized he was starting to hear whispers. But they were not whispers of sound. They were thoughts floating on the wind, the wake of telepathic communication from a group of mental sensitives who did not know that there was a stranger nearby who could hear them. Now _that_ was interesting! The temptation to reach out was tremendous, but instead he tightened his mental shields. Not polite to be eavesdropping, not even by accident.

Inside his ship, he went to the console and pulled up his files on this world. The registered inhabitants were not telepathic; in fact, they were so close to human there was basically no point in calling them anything else. No, there was something else here, something the Shadow Proclamation had missed when they surveyed Abode for sentient species. A quick scan by the life form sensors of the local area revealed an even more intriguing picture. The scanners picked up _six_ total sentient races!

The Doctor closely examined the readings. Three of the sentient species were closely linked, two of them being partbreeds with the third. Of the other three, one was the humans, one was a tiny insectoid race, no bigger than some butterflies he'd seen, and one was a subterranean humanoid with a very stout build.

The three linked species were his greatest point of curiosity at the moment. At least two out of the three were fully telepathic, slender humanoids with large eyes and pointed ears. One of those two was the pure race, and their signatures did not match that of the rest of the planet any more than the subterraneans or the insectoids. But the two crossbred species _did_ belong, either dominantly or recessively linked to the natural wolf species of the planet.

The Doctor sat back on the jump seat, his head swirling with the odd information and all the questions it brought. A sentient race from offworld had bred two halfblood races and left itself and two others on the planet. Why? Was this a planned infiltration? Would the current population even have the answers to that? Or was it something far less intentional?

Now he was excited! Here was something new, something that neither the Time Lords nor the Shadow Proclamation had ever discovered. He would get to be the first! Of course, given the primitive nature of the planet, if they were anywhere as primitive as the local humans, his appearance might not be welcome. He'd certainly have to tread carefully until he had all the facts.

He could still sense the telepathic wake, of course, and from that he was able to judge that there were fourteen of the two humanoids and about twenty of the wolves in the local area, all in a very close locality to each other. Even as he "watched", the group, which was probably a small village, split up, all the wolves and about half of the humanoids heading off into the woods. They felt edgy and excited, and he could tell that it was hunger that was driving them out into the wood. This was a hunting party.

And there was something else he was sensing, now that he was paying attention to those people. They were in a paradox loop!

The Doctor had never seen a loop this big. It stretched from ninety-five centuries into the future to one hundred and five centuries into the past, a full twenty thousand years! How did that happen? Something that big - it couldn't have been intentional, could it? He shook his head. More and more, he wanted to go out and meet these people. But he didn't want to frighten them.

For the rest of the night, he watched how the hunters moved through the woods, feeling it when they caught up to their prey and when they returned home with the kill to share it with those who had stayed behind. He made sure to keep his watching passive, not dipping into anyone's mind, observing only, but he still attracted some attention. One of the humanoids seemed to be a shield producer, and she had noticed him watching.

Suddenly he found his mind bombarded by a shield pulse, a move designed to forcibly knock an intruder out. If he'd actually tried to enter any of the minds he'd been watching, he would have been rendered unconscious. As it was, the pulse knocked him about, and he landed on the floor of the console room, holding his head from the sudden massive headache.

_Brilliant, old man,_ he thought. Well he was definitely about to have visitors, and probably very irritated ones. So, with that in mind, he picked himself up off the floor and grabbed the blanket he had been sitting on previously, then walked out of the TARDIS. He spread the blanket on the grass in front of the door, and used the door as a back rest. It shouldn't be too long. He wanted to appear as non-threatening as possible, but he was fairly certain the party would be armed. No matter. If he was completely unwelcome, he would just leave, though it would sadden him. Learning something new was so exciting for someone like him, who had seen and done so much, but he recognized that a strong telepathic stranger would be a threat if not handled with a great deal of caution.

They arrived very quickly, and the Doctor was surprised to see the humanoids mounted on their lupine brothers, actually riding them! He didn't know what he was expecting about the relationship being maintained between the species, but that most certainly wasn't it.

The pair in the front were obviously the leaders, but looking at the wolf he realized that she was more different even than all of the others. She was actually of the pure race, but had changed herself into a white wolf. She was at least one of the ultimate forbearers of the two partbreeds, she had to be! And made her a lot older than he was!

He shook his head to clear it. These people were a mass of puzzles and mysteries, but at the moment they were primitives approaching an intruder into their territory, and he needed to deal with them on that level first and foremost.

The humanoid of the lead pair dismounted and stood menacingly above him, a long curved dagger threatening him from the man's fist. He was about two feet shorter in height than the Doctor, with long blonde hair that was tied up on top of his head and came to the front of his face in flowing sideburns and very large blue eyes that were trying to drill holes through him. He wore undyed furs and leathers, with a gold circle at his neck and a bare chest.

The Doctor said, "I'd like to begin by offering an apology. I didn't mean to startle anyone. I was only curious about your people."

The chieftain spoke in a low tenor. "We all felt eyes on our backs, all through the hunt. Are you telling me that was you?"

"Yes. Not my most brilliant moment. But I promise I mean you and your people no harm."

The white wolf approached him, scenting him. Then she sent a thought to him. **You are _not_ human.**

The Doctor didn't miss the surprise of the rest of the party at her speaking to him. A little smile curled the corner of his mouth. **No, dear lady, I am not.**

Her humanoid partner hissed and said, "Be quiet! You're too loud!"

"Sorry?"

"You ran into our net, but it was not meant to catch whatever it is that you are. It is there to catch an enemy who uses her mind against us, and if she hears you, she will catch you and use you!"

His eyes widened. He hadn't expected that. "Then I'll stick to speech until I can gauge how loud I'm being. I'm sorry, it's just been a very long time since I was around anyone else who was telepathic." Quickly, the Doctor ran through his own mental defenses, shoring up his shields and setting up an alarm that would warn him if anyone was trying to breach his mind without his permission. "No wonder you were upset when you sensed me watching."

The chieftain shook his head in amazement. "What are you? How can you send and speak our language?"

The Doctor went into lecture mode. "As to the second, my ship translates most languages automatically. I could be speaking any language and you'd still hear me in your own. The rest of your question is a bit more complicated." He shifted a bit, trying to keep his legs from falling asleep. "I am a Time Lord. My people were naturally telepathic just like yours, but I haven't seen another in over a hundred years. They were called Time Lords because they traveled through time and space in capsules just like this one," he tapped behind him on the wood of the TARDIS, "and because they could see Time itself, feel the way it moves. I can see all that is, all that was, what might be, what must not." He shrugged. "Not all at once, of course."

His explanation caused quite a stir. Rapid thoughts shot between the five humanoids and the Lady Wolf. Her partner lowered his weapon and kneeled down to look the Doctor in the eye. "Could you stop something from happening?"

He narrowed his eyes. "The paradox loop. You're aware of it, then? What's going on there?"

He shuddered. "Someone is trying to break it. We all owe our existence to the accident that caused the Wheel to start turning. If he breaks it-"

But he knew. "Then you'll never have been. You'll be unwritten from history. Why is he doing it?"

"He wants to save the lives of the High Ones. This world was not kind to those first elves. Some died in the accident, and others were killed, either by humans or by nature."

"How is he doing it?"

"The Palace. It was the vessel that the High Ones were traveling in, and when they were thrown back in time, it survived the crash. He's taken it and my-" The man-the _elf_-shook with rage, and the Doctor could only guess what this person had taken other than the ship of his ancestors. "He's taken it to the night right before the accident, planning on merging the Palace with its past self. He thinks that will stop the accident from ever happening."

He thought about it. "It might. Or it might just obliterate them both. But I don't know this person. The best person to stop him will be the people who know him best."

The chieftain growled and walked away, his mind obviously elsewhere. The Doctor took the opportunity to look at the members of the investigative party. One was an archer with sable hair and a long thin face. Then there was a stout bearded individual with curly blonde hair. The other two were women, one with dark skin and pin-straight raven hair, and the other with wavy ginger hair and very fair skin.

The dark lady he recognized as being the shielder. "Marvelous shield work, by the way. I've never encountered anything quite like it."

She gave him a tiny smile, acknowledging the compliment. "Next to Her, you were no problem at all, although I don't think you were trying to be one."

He raised an eyebrow "No, I wasn't. And I wouldn't. Still, quite a humbling experience."

The archer of the group had never allowed his eyes to move off of the Doctor, and he had an arrow nocked on his bow. It was not drawn back, but it could be in an instant, so he made no sudden moves. These people didn't have guns, but if they had, it would be this elf who was pointing one at him. He did so tire of people pointing weapons at him.

The bearded blonde was in telepathic conversation with the chieftain, and the mix-breed wolves were all milling around nervously in the background. This left the ginger female elf, who seemed more curious about him than anything else. Her head was cocked sideways and she was staring at him with her brilliant green eyes.

Emerald met a muddier green, and something passed between them. The Doctor's eyes widened and his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. So did hers, and she took an involuntary step back. _Rassilon!_ He was hearing a name in his head, and by the look on her face, so was she. A name. He cursed in Gallifreyan, knowing that the TARDIS wouldn't translate it. _Now_ he was in trouble.

**DW**


	2. Chapter 2: Wolfrider

_Notes: I'm trying to decide whether or not the rest of Season 7 will happen the same way, or at all. Those of you who know the ElfQuest universe know that I just changed the Doctor's family tree. I'm just not sure yet how I want that to play out. The original writers didn't let Jenny change his life, but I don't know if I want to do that to him again._

The Broken Wheel

Chapter 2: Wolfrider

She was the daughter of Pike, Krim and Scott. She had Pike's hair and Krim's temper. Two of her parents were Go-Backs, but she was a Wolfrider, through and through. She lived for the hunt and the howl, never looking beyond the now of wolf thought. She was a child of love, not Recognition, so she never expected Recognition to come to her, and certainly not from this, a creature from the stars that looked like a human, but smelled of strange things from far off places.

But Firebrand had heard a new name when she looked into his eyes, and by the utterly shocked look on his face, it had taken him by as much surprise as it had her. She didn't even know what he was called, and now she knew his most secret name, the name which belonged to his soul. Fear was not a part of her, but right now she was afraid.

Unwilling, but unable to stop herself, Firebrand walked to the man who was sitting on the ground in front of his big wooden box.

Strongbow sent, **What are you doing?**

She ignored him. "What do we call you?"

He swallowed, unable himself to look away from her. "I'm the Doctor."

"I'm called Firebrand." But as quietly and privately as she knew how, she sent to him, calling him by his own name, asking if she was right.

He nodded, then said, "I still dare not speak into your mind, not like that, but I can pass something to you if I touch you. May I?"

"Yes."

He reached out and touched her temple and a light whisper passed into her mind, his voice saying her soul name. _High Ones!_ There was no denying it. But there was going to be plenty of questioning it.

Venka came to her side. "Firebrand, what is it?"

Quietly, she said, "He knows my name."

"And she knows mine," said the Doctor.

**DW**

During the day, the elves had left for home, and the Doctor had retreated to the TARDIS to run scans on the DNA that Firebrand had let him collect; three hairs she'd plucked from her head. What he found in the DNA was astonishing, but he couldn't help but wonder what they would all make of it.

That whole day, his thoughts stayed with Firebrand. The last time he'd been this distracted, it had been by Rose Tyler, but his hearts were not involved in this. Oh, Firebrand was quite lovely, and she was probably a very nice girl, but there was nothing even resembling a love match here. This was mating instinct at its most basic, nature demanding an answer, but not a connection.

This used to happen as a matter of course on Gallifrey. At one time so-called soul-mates were a common occurrence, before Time Lord society had risen to its most dizzying heights. The matches always resulted in children, and these children tended to be smarter and more creative than those born without it. Then the curse had come, and children were almost never born naturally, the race having to resort to laboratory-based reproduction to survive, But once in a while, a soul-mating would still occur, and a natural child would be born, smarter and more creative than the loomed children.

The Doctor was not a loom-child. He'd been born naturally. And he'd proved to be very creative and very clever, so clever he'd tried to turn that stuffy Time Lord society on its head.

He had no choice; and that was what was bothering him. If they didn't consummate the soul-mating, they'd both start to get sick, withering away. This union _would_ result in a child, And though that thought wasn't entirely unpleasant, he was afraid of what that dual nature would mean for the child. And if he were completely honest with himself, he was also worried about what it would man for his own freedom. He hated being stuck in one place, but he would not abandon Firebrand to raise a Time Lord on her own.

He laughed at himself. He'd been considering retirement, though, hadn't he, planning to sit in London and mope because he kept losing people and was tiring of getting involved. Well, now he'd be doing both; getting involved and sitting still. Perhaps now he wouldn't be so lonely.

**DW**

Wolfriders are far more complex creatures than the wolves, even those who share with them the blood of Timmorn, but they had still gained much from being descended of both wolf and elf. Their senses were sharper, their instincts stronger, and their shorter lives made them a much hardier breed, able to bear children and replace their ranks, keeping the species strong. More Wolfriders Recognized than any other tribe, and the race was better for it.

Of course, that meant that their genetics were desirable to nature, and when they came in contact with other children of the High Ones, it was almost a given that one from each tribe would be Recognized to each other. With the browned Sun Folk of Sorrow's End, it had been Cutter and Leetah. With the Gliders it had been Dewshine and Tyldak. No one had among the Go-Backs, but most thought it was because so few of them had been born in Recognition in the first place.

But this Doctor was not an elf! No one could understand it, least of all him or Firebrand.

They weren't letting him anywhere near the Holt, but everyone was shocked and curious, so the whole tribe came to the meadow that evening, the wolves keeping watch for humans. There was a mystery here, and everyone wanted to see it solved.

There was no need for torches. The light of the stars and the moons was plenty for this meeting. The Doctor took his seat right up next to his box again, and the elves sat in a semi-circle around him. Firebrand sat next to her parents, the three of them surrounding her in support and glaring daggers at the Doctor.

Cutter, as chief, began the meeting, standing in the open area between the elves and the Time Lord. "This person is not human. He does not act like them, and he does not smell like them. His form is like theirs, but not his soul, because none of their souls could hope to Recognize one of ours. He came here because he was curious, intending to see what was here and leave. Timmain has said he is not human, and for the sake of one of our own, we will hear what he has to say."

The Doctor didn't get up. Body language meant a lot to these people and he didn't want to threaten anyone. "I'm called the Doctor. I travel in this lovely box here, exploring and helping along the way. I didn't mean for this to happen, but now that it has, I have made a discovery that I want to share with you." He took a breath, then continued. "My people had a legend that before we began to understand Time, our world had visitors from another, a race we called the Bringers. One of their kind was accidentally left behind on our world, and in loneliness turned to a native woman for comfort. She bore him two daughters, and they were the first to see Time and to harness it. All our race became longer lived and learned how to speak telepathically, what you call sending.

"When Firebrand and I heard each other's names, I had to know how this was possible. I had never heard of another race in all the universe whose people had soul-mates in that way, yet here you are! So I asked Firebrand for three strands of hair, which I was able to study with the machines I have in my box. Our two races share a common ancestor, and I must believe it was the Bringers."

Nightshade spoke next. "We were told by Timmain how the High Ones traveled the stars, exploring other worlds. She also told us that theirs was not the only group of travelers from their race. When their home star died, they all left. It's possible, isn't it, that one of those groups was these Bringers?"

"Yes. They're the same race, just different ships."

But Firebrand's family didn't care much about all that at the moment. Krim said, "I don't care if he has star-stuff coming from under his tail! He's not taking off with my daughter in some magic box!" Her two fathers may not have said anything, but it was plain that they agreed with their mate.

The Doctor shook his head, hearing shades of Jackie Tyler. _Why is it always the mothers?_ He would have to watch out for her to slap him, or worse. After all, this lot went armed! "I won't take her anywhere she doesn't want to go. To be perfectly honest, this is not something I was expecting or seeking, and I have no intention of going traveling with anyone for a very long time, if ever again. But neither will I run from her, nor the child she will bear. I've lived too long and been too alone to give up this chance at having a family again." He didn't raise his voice, but he didn't have to to make his point.

Treestump said, "You can't just leave that box where it is, though. It's too obvious. We can't have human attention so near the Holt."

He looked at the eldest Wolfrider. "No, you're right about that. I'm thinking about sending her up into one of these larger trees. One or two in this area are big enough. She might not _like_ it, though." He shrugged. "Oh well. She's certainly been in worse spots."

Strongbow didn't have much to say. **Can you even hunt for yourself?** His tone made it plain that he doubted it.

The Doctor smirked. "Your concern for my well-being is touching, but don't worry about it. I'm perfectly capable of providing for myself, and without reducing the game you need." He could always jump to Earth every week or so to pick up groceries, so long as the TARDIS didn't miss her landings on the way back.

Firebrand needed to have her say. She hadn't said much of anything since Recognition had struck them the night before. "Can we trust you, Doctor? You are a stranger here; you know nothing about the Way or how the seasons turn here, our enemies or our friends. Can we trust you not to bring danger here or to impose your own ideas on us?"

He stilled. It was a fair question. For all that they seemed to live like beasts, they had their own culture, their own rules, and he didn't have the right to change that for them. "You can trust me to not try to change you, and I won't mess with the humans here. They're not ready for me, anyway. I'll certainly be avoiding that sick mind in the distant sea; you don't have to tell me twice about that one. But I will not keep our child from knowing my culture as well as yours. The two will be a conflict, one we will have to help them see their way through. The wolf cannot count time, only follow the seasons. I feel the turn of the planet beneath my feet, how it turns around its sun, and how that sun is hurtling through space and time. I don't expect the rest of you to change, but the child will be a Time Lord as much as a Wolfrider."

Firebrand thought about his response. He was only asking her for equality, and promising only as much as he honestly could. He wasn't pretending that this was going to be easy, and he'd pointed out a problem she hadn't even considered. But he wasn't going to allow her to face that problem alone, nor was he going to allow her to shut him out. Fair enough. She nodded.

**DW**

Redlance and Nightshade helped the Doctor to find a tree, well away from the Holt and with the strength to hold the TARDIS. His boots had a hard time in the trees, so he switched to his old converse for the duration. Redlance shaped the wood while he watched in amazement, forming the living tree into a landing platform, and camouflaging it by causing all the side branches to grow thick and full of foliage. Hiding the dark blue was going to be difficult in winter, but that was two full seasons away, and he'd be able to figure something out by then. In fact, some of the Papal Mainframe's camouflage netting might not go astray. It would hide anything.

He thanked the elf profusely, then climbed back down the tree to retrieve the TARDIS. He'd never seen that kind of use for Artron energy, but that was clearly the source of the elves' power. They used it as a form of telekinesis, but it was the same energy that made Regeneration possible.

While Redlance had been doing the work of creating a home for his ship, his mate, Nightshade, had been telling him about the other uses of elfin magic; shaping stone, shaping flesh, levitation, flight, and healing. He remembered healing River's wrist in New York, an he knew that it was more than possible. One of the elves had figured out how to create a force field against physical attacks. And apparently some of their strongest minds could leave their bodies behind, going "out" to visit other elves in distant parts of the world.

The Doctor wanted to know the history of this people, to hear the stories that had shaped them, because they had both the hardness and the beauty of nature. He wanted to write their stories in a book, but he knew he'd have to keep that book to himself. There was no point in bringing this world to the attention of the universe at large, and certainly not to the Shadow Proclamation. They had missed a great opportunity with this place, and he was not about to let them know about it.

He took a deep breath as the image of Firebrand's soul shimmered across his mind. She was coming.

**DW**


	3. Chapter 3: Dancing

_Notes: This chapter has some pretty mild sexual content, but that is the reason for the Teen rating. After all, we're talking about a mating instinct designed to produce strong children. There was going to be sex involved. Also, Skot, Krim and Pike are a threesome, and that's canon to ElfQuest, so don't yell at me for it. No one here is human, so trying to impose human morality on them is pretty dumb. Like the ninth Doctor said, "It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home."_

The Broken Wheel

Chapter 3: Dancing

The Doctor looked into the wooden nest that Redlance had shaped into the trunk of the tree which neighbored his own. It was tall enough inside that he could stand up straight, but just barely. There were several shelves, a depression meant to be filled with soft furs and several alcoves for candles or lamps. The wood was smooth and once filled, the bed would be both warm and soft. All in all, it had the potential to be a very warm space.

Firebrand came in behind him, her large eyes easily adapting to the darkness. "Not what you're used to?"

He smiled and shook his head. "No." He turned to look at her. "But then, none of this is. I never thought to have a chance to have a family again, and that's wonderful. But I don't like being forced into this, and I can't imagine being with someone who looks so much like your ancestral enemy will be what you want, either."

She stepped past him, shrugging as she walked. "You might look similar, but you smell nothing like humans, and when I look at you, I see the stars, and fire and ice. I see your twin hearts, and the light of the universe. Everything in the sky has your name woven into it, because without it, nothing would be."

The Doctor sat on one of the shelves. It was still part of the tree, so it easily supported his weight. "You see all that, hmm?"

"What do you see?"

He looked, really looked, seeing her soul and her timeline all at once. "A perfect blend of the Wolf and the Bringer. Your life flows through this world like a river cutting a niche into the rock to make its own place. But there's one place where the river will shift in its course, a shift I see for all your tribe. I don't know what's coming, but it will happen to all of you. I see our daughter or son, still just a feather in the wind, but still following the same course. But most of all, I see you, the Wolfrider, the secret fire, the quick temper, and the deeper waters, all wrapped up in blue leather and red hair, and green eyes I'm going to drown in."

Looking at her and seeing her soul made him want her ever more acutely. Briefly he thought of another wolf he had loved, and wondered if he hadn't always been headed in this direction. But this was a hotter, faster fire, and he had no choice but to let it consume him. He did not love her, but he wanted her, needed her. And as soon as they had a comfortable bed, he would have her, and she would have him.

**DW**

Firebrand could sense the Doctor's growing hunger, but she didn't want to rush around. She wanted time to explore, to get to know this man who would become the father of her cub. Redlance had made this nest for them because he wanted them to have somewhere that would be good for both of them, and for their cub. Her parents would be bringing several furs later to fill the bed with, and to glare at the Doctor. She smiled a little at the thought, and he noticed, raising an eyebrow at her in question. She blew a little laugh through her nose. "Just thinking about my parents. They're not happy about this."

He chuckled quietly. "No parent is every happy to see me, it seems. In the past, I've been slapped soundly by the mothers of two of my friends. One I probably deserved, but I most certainly didn't deserve the other one."

Grinning, she said, "What did you do the first time?"

He was embarrassed, but smiled anyway. "Well, like I told Cutter, my box travels through both time and space. I thought I had got my friend back home a mere twelve hours after she'd left, even though it had been several days for us, but I miscalculated a bit. Instead of half a day it had been an entire year. There had been a murder investigation and everything."

Firebrand looked at him sideways. "You _did_ deserve it."

"Yes, well, it wasn't intentional, but the woman didn't know about the time travel, and it was just bad. Definitely not one of my best moments."

They looked at each other, both feeling a pleasant energy beginning to slowly build between them. It wasn't forceful, but it was early yet. If they waited too long, it would become horribly unpleasant, but that would take at least a week. They had time to let things happen.

That was the moment Skot, Krim and Pike arrived with their bundles of furs. Skot had also brought a few lamps, small pots of oil with reeds for wicks, to light the nest. Krim tossed the furs she was holding into the bed frame, then turned to the Doctor. "So, this must be strange for you, sleeping in a tree."

He shrugged. "I've slept in stranger places, and many less comfortable." He looked her right in the eyes, neither backing down nor challenging. "The universe is full of strange, Krim, strange places and strange people. I've met people who looked like fish or birds, people with two heads, people made of stone or pure energy. I've walked on a world that was frozen in an instant so that the waves of the ocean became permanent sculptures of ice, and on another that was made of poisoned diamonds. I've seen stars born and die, seen the beginning of the universe and the end of it, and it is vast and full of wonders and terrors. Strange? That doesn't bother me in the slightest."

Pike was called the Howlkeeper, the one who kept all the stories of the tribe, so the Doctor was interesting to him, but he was still wary of the man whose life was so entangled with his daughter's. He said, "Why do you travel so much? Is there something wrong with your home territory that you're looking for a new one?"

The pain of losing his home world flitted across his face, but he stifled it. Three hundred years was long enough to grieve. "I've been traveling for over a thousand years, because I enjoy it, and because there are things happening out there I can help with." The Doctor paused, and decided to tell him the rest. "But you're not wrong about my home. The fact is, it's gone, lost in a war so horrible that it threatened to wipe out all creation; every world, every universe."

He sighed. "I still miss that planet some times, and I lost my family to that war; my mother, my brother, my son and my granddaughter, my best friend and my worst enemies. I'm the last." He didn't tell him that he had been the one to push that big red button, though. That was still a shame that he didn't want to tell anyone. Those few who knew it were either dead or trapped in a parallel universe.

Even Krim's face softened at that. Skot said, "That's horrible! The whole world? And you have to live with that? How can you be sane?"

A smile quirked at the corner of his mouth. "I'm not, not completely. But it was three hundred years ago, for me, and time can wear away the sharpest edge of grief and madness. Really, I'm just a madman in a box, but I'd like to think I've done some good with my survival, and that thought does help."

On those solemn thoughts, Firebrand's parents left the nest, leaving her and the Doctor alone. It was awkward for a moment, then he said, "Tell me a story."

A surprised giggle escaped from her and he decided he liked the sound. "What?"

"A story! I've been telling everyone all about me. Nightshade told me a few things, and I've guessed a few others, learned some basic history, but I know so little about your people! And you're completely new! No one else has any record of this planet except for its human population. Just tell me a story. Let me learn."

Nodding, Firebrand sat on the bed and began to speak. "When the High Ones first came to this world, humans were little more than beasts, afraid of the dark,, afraid of skyfire, and of all they could not understand. The Palace of the High Ones landed harshly, those within already in pain and now tossed around. This world made their powers weak, and when they stepped out onto it, they came face to face with its humans. Both were afraid, but the humans were violent. Between the accident and the humans, barely half escaped into the surrounding forests.

"Few could control their magic with any certainty in those early days, but Timmain was still able to change her shape. She took the form of the wolf, and from the pack she learned how to hunt, helping her fellows to survive in conditions so harsh they had never known the like. They learned well, and prospered, but over time she was seen less and less, until many feared she had gone for good. She was one of the pack, now, and when she was seen, it was with them.

"One day she called to them and they found her in her den with proof that she was not yet fully a wolf; a cub who was fully both elf and wolf. For his first few summers, she raised him with the pack, but when he was half grown she brought him to her people and was not seen again for ten generations.

The cub learned the ways of his mother's people, and they named him Timmorn Yelloweyes. He helped them to hunt and survive, and when he was grown he became their chief, the first chief. He had cubs in and out of Recognition on both sides of his family, and together, the wolves and the Wolfriders became a tribe."

The Doctor was enthralled by the story of their origins, and he didn't immediately realize that she had finished. He blinked, then said, "Amazing! I've always had every resource I needed right at hand, right in my TARDIS. But your people had to figure out how to survive on a completely primitive world with none of the technology they were used to and far less access to your natural abilities. And they've succeeded beautifully!"

Firebrand had sat down next to the Doctor during his praise, and he suddenly became very aware of her proximity. He looked into her eyes, into her soul, and even though he still didn't like being pulled around by primitive mating instinct, right now there was nothing forced about this. He was ready, and if he was reading her right, so was she. He slid his fingers into the hair next to her ear, the smallest one brushing the sensitive ridge of that ear. Briefly, Rose's voice came to him from out of the past. _The world doesn't end because the Doctor dances._

The Doctor had "danced" before; after all, he had married River Song, and they had not been celibate. Once he'd even been with Rose, that one glorious time that he cherished and held in a special place between his hearts, when they had explored Woman Wept. But none of them had ever seen his soul. None of them _could_. But Firebrand did, and it was something he never knew he craved.

Firebrand sensed the Doctor's mind brushing hers, asking gently to be let in, but she also sensed - and shared - his urgency. She touched his hand with her own, running one of her long, thin fingers along his. They looked into each other's eyes, and the Doctor leaned in to kiss her.

It was all the spark the dry tender of their need required to become a raging fire. The kiss deepened quickly, and Firebrand opened her mind to the Doctor. He shrugged off his jacket, and his braces, then started pulling at his bow tie. She slid off her blue suede shirt, confirming that her people didn't have any use for underwear. She didn't understand buttons, but he managed to get his shirt off before she could rip it in frustration.

He toed off his boots, letting his mouth travel down her neck as he tugged her leggings down past her hips where they were free to fall to the floor. Her fingers trailed down his chest, the thin, delicate digits lightly scraping against his skin and setting off sparks down his spine and in his loins.

Bare before each other, they joined in body and mind, moving with the ancient rhythm of life. Their souls danced around each other as their bodies were consumed by the passion of their embrace. Eventually they felt a third soul join in the dance, and they knew as they reached their climax that they had created a child that night.

They danced together long into the night, enjoying the physical and mental intimacy, as well as the pure joy of holding each other's souls. They danced to celebrate the new life that had been created, and all the possibilities contained in that life.

**DW**

In the next he shared with Redlance and Nightshade, Cutter sat curled up in the corner. It was early in the night, and most of the Holt wouldn't be up for a while. Skot, Krim and Pike had been up early helping Firebrand move into her new nest, but that was all. Of course, now that she had her own nest close to her soulmate, only two more cuts would mar his counting tree before there was a new member in his tribe.

The thought of two Recognized souls bringing new life into this world made his own loss so much starker. His lifemate, his soul's brother and his children, ripped from him and flung into the future, a future he despaired of ever seeing, was eating away at him, and had been ever since Rayek had stolen them.

But another thought also occurred to the Wolfrider. The Doctor was now connected to the Wheel. His own child and soulmate would be erased if Rayek succeeded in breaking it. If nothing else, he hoped they could convince the Bringer to help stop Rayek. If not, they _both_ stood to lose their families.

**DW**


	4. Chapter 4: History

_Notes: Sorry I'm late. I had a wedding to deal go to last week, and I wasn't able to get this posted when I wanted to. Please review. I'm starting to worry here._

The Broken Wheel

Chapter Four: History

The Doctor was well known for not being able to sit still, but he had been in a brooding mood. He was old, and nearing the end of his life. He was still smarting from having lost so many people so close together, and was planning on parking the TARDIS above London and staying out of History's way.

But that was before he had landed on Abode, before he had Recognized the Wolfrider Firebrand. Now, after nearly twelve hundred years, the Doctor was an expectant father again. He would have a family again, something he had never expected. He had believed he would die alone and friendless. Now there was a chance that he would be survived by someone who would actually miss him. He would get to help raise a child, both a Time Lord and a Wolfrider. It felt like the universe was finally repaying him for all the work he had put into it. Foolish? Perhaps.

His own people had all kinds of written histories, but the children of the High Ones had no such thing, and he had learned that they had no written language. If they'd had one before, when their people traveled the stars, even Timmain, who had the mind of a wolf and did not remember well, did not know it. So he had taken to writing down the stories of the tribe to keep his twitchy feet from taking off with him. Exact dates would not be possible, but at least a chronology might be achieved, and the stories themselves could be preserved.

The Doctor spent a lot of time with Firebrand's fathers, Pike and Skot (Pike was he biological father, but the trio had raised her together) and with Aroree, Zhantee and Shenshen. Together, they had the stories of all four known tribes of elves. He learned about the long and proud history of the Wolfriders, but also stories from the Sunfolk, the Gliders and the Go-Backs.

No one knew much about why the tribes had diverged n the first place, but the Doctor's best guess was that they had argued about what the best way to survive was. The Go-Back tribe had originally descended from a splinter group of the Wolfriders who wanted to reclaim the palace from the humans and the trolls. (Trolls were the subterranean species that had come from the same world as the High Ones and the Bringers.)

The Sunfolk had settled in a sheltered spot in a distant desert that boasted enough water to make farming possible. theirs was a simple life of agrarian pursuits and craftsmanship. The area was rich in gold and precious stones, which the elves only valued for decoration and jewelry. Trade was common, but with their small numbers (fifty or so) currency or a concept of capitalism had not been developed. It hadn't in any of the four tribes. Their leaders were Suntoucher, an elf who had gone blind because of his pursuit of watching the sun's travels to know the seasons by, and Savah, their Mother of Memory, who had been alive when the village was formed, probably eight thousand years ago.

The Gliders had been formed by a group of High Ones who didn't want to give up their way of life to survive on this planet. They'd shaped the rock of a mountain, a lone peak called Blue Mountain, into a home which resembled the Palace on the inside, and which had been led by one Lord Voll until trolls had killed him two centuries ago. Their society had stagnated, and had produced the diseased mind of Winowill, the powerful telepath who had caused the Wolfriders, and her own people, so much trouble.

The Doctor's studies were watched closely by Cutter, also called Kinseeker by many. When his tribe discovered the Sunfolk, fleeing through the desert from a forest fire and an unscrupulous troll king, he sought to discover if their two tribes were the only ones in the world, beginning the quest that had eventually led them to this place. Cutter was watching because he wanted to see if the Doctor would help him with Rayek.

Rayek was one of the Sunfolk. They were peaceful, but he was arrogant and possessive. He had been courting Leetah, the healer, for several decades before the Wolfriders had arrived, and then Cutter had Recognized her the moment they met. They had a contest in the traditions of Rayek and Leetah's people, and Cutter won it. It didn't alter the fact of Recognition, but it shamed him and he left. Later, when the Palace was found, Rayek was able to fly it.

And then the shouts of the High Ones started being heard, an echo through time. The Doctor hated to think how horrible it must have been for those people that their voices stretched ten thousand years into the past! Rayek, Cutter and Leetah's son Suntop, Savah, Timmain and Winowill all heard the cries, and Rayek brought the Palace to the physical place of the original temporal accident. When they realized the cries were coming from the future, Rayek got the hare-brained idea to save the High Ones and break the paradox.

Cutter wasn't the only one with a stake in that paradox, of course. Any of the elves on this world who weren't in the ship would be erased from history. But his was perhaps the most poignant. His family was on that ship; his lifemate, son, daughter and brother. And since the Doctor could see where they were in the timeline, he knew there was no way Cutter was going to live long enough to see them again. Living life on the slow path, only those without wolfblood would be able to live that long, and only given that nothing happened to them in the meanwhile. There was no guarantee that anyone who could stop Rayek would be alive.

Nor did the Doctor fail to realize that his own child's life was also bound to this paradox. His own timeline was starting to get wrapped up in it, in fact, making it harder and harder to see. When the child was born, the course of the Wolfriders would become nearly invisible to him, because it would be too close to his own. The TARDIS had told him once that even if she didn't always take him where he _wanted_ to go, she always took him where needed to be. So, she had brought him here, knowing he would be able to start a family again, and that he was needed to salvage this paradox. How was he going to do that? And when would he have to act?

**DW**

For the first year of her pregnancy, there wasn't a whole lot that changed for Firebrand, other than the Doctor's presence. He spent his nights listening to stories from all four of the elf tribes, and his days making symbols in a package of straight, white leaves that he called a book. He wanted to know as much about their race as he could find out, and he wanted to record that knowledge for the future. It was a foreign concept to the Wolfriders, who existed in the Now of wolf thought. They had stories so that they knew where they came from and what others had done, but they didn't worry about the past or the future, and in general they didn't record anything.

Aroree understood, because that was what the Egg had been for. Shenshen and Zhantee understood, because that was what Savah did for her people-remember. But the GoBacks only concern for the past had always been how to fight trolls and to get the Palace back, and the Wolfriders only remembered when they needed to.

Now that she was in the second year of her pregnancy, Firebrand was starting to notice changes. She was hungry more often, and more often for fruits and green things rather than just meat. The softness of her belly had hardened, and soon it would begin to grow with the cub she carried. It could have been a very lonely time.

But the Doctor, in his own words, had quite a gob, meaning he really liked to talk, and his own instincts wouldn't allow the woman carrying his child to be left alone. She heard so many stories, about things he had seen and done, or even that he just knew about, and he would bring her things from other worlds that he thought she would like, like the beeswax candles from Earth, and the soft wool blanket from Barcelona. He also watched her health, scanning her with his noisy little light at least one day in every eight, and making sure she was getting enough of all the things she needed to eat, insisting that she listen to what her body was telling her about food. "That's the only way the baby will get what he or she needs, you understand." She had no time to be lonely.

He was worried about something, though. When she asked, he would change the subject, but she knew it had to do with the Palace. Finally one evening, when she had come back from hunting, she saw him sitting on a stool in front of his blue box. He had been gone during the night while she was gone, which he often did, but this time he hadn't come back with some trinket or comfort. He had a tiny crystal in his hand, and she could _feel_ it! She stared at it. "Is that-?"

"A tiny fragment of the Palace ship, yes. There was a tiny chip on one of the north walls, and I was able to pick up this fragment from that chip, oh, about eight thousand years ago. I didn't want to interfere with anything in that time, but I do want to be able to track the time field so I can pinpoint exactly when the ship will appear." He sighed. "I already knew that we were in the middle of this paradox, but now my own timeline is entwined with someone included directly with the paradox, which confuses my time sense. With this, I can pinpoint the exact age reference and follow it forward as far as Rayek has."

Firebrand nodded her limited understanding. "So you could take your box to the time Rayek has taken the Palace?"

"But I still have no way to convince him not to do this. Not only will he have no reason to listen to me, but he might try to kill me. Humans look like Time Lords, and he may not be able to tell the difference. It's got to be someone who knows him, but-" The Doctor stopped, not wanting to say.

But she knew. "But none of us will be able to life that long. Even if Cutter avoids death long enough to die in his sleep, he won't live long enough to see his family again."

He nodded. "If things continue on this path."

Firebrand thought about it. "I remember you telling me that our path through this world would change direction."

"But I don't know why or how." He looked down at the little crystal in his hand. "I really don't want to have to tell Cutter that I know how to get to his family but that I still can't figure out how to reunite them, or rather how to do it in such a way that I'm not interfering in events that must occur. Having actually seen that time stream, I've caused it to be a semi-fixed point, and if it doesn't occur, massive problems will erupt."

"Like what?"

He sighed and leaned back against the side of his box, looking up at the stars. "There are creatures called Reapers. Like a disease, they'll get into a wound in Time and wipe out the thing it's a part of. In this case, the point is only fixed within the paradox, though. Rayek could still wipe out the whole thing, and you with it, and being in the eye of the storm, he'd survive." Bitterness filled his tone.

They sat together in silence for a few minutes, both thinking about that future moment. Then Firebrand moved closer to the Doctor and took his hand. "Try to live in the Now. Don't worry about that moment until it comes, and then figure out what you need to do."

"If you or our child were unwritten, I don't know what I would do. I've already lost so much; my first family, friends over time, people I loved as family, and one I loved so much I-" He didn't take his eyes off the stars, but tears started flowing down his cheek bones toward his small round ears.

She said, "You fear the loss, and the pain that comes with it. But fear does something to you, eats at you. You forget to live. Don't dwell so yard, especially on what may yet be avoided. When the time comes for you to deal with this, you will deal with it. But living in fear of it will do you no good."

"I can't forget them."

"That's why you can't let yourself get stuck on the loss. Remember _them_ instead of remembering that you lost them, and you'll rise above the fear."

The Doctor stared at her, and a watery smile curled the corner of his mouth. "How old are you?"

She shrugged. "I don't keep count. Why?"

"I'll bet you're still fairly young when compared to the others here, but you're really quite wise."

"I _am_ the youngest, but living in the Now is the Way. It's how we live as Wolfriders."

He sighed. "All but one."

She nodded, "All but one."

Cutter, Kinseeker; so afraid to lose that he made all as safe as possible, so grieved by loss that he could not properly mourn, so frozen he could not move, and so aware of Time he had to count it, as no Chief of the Wolfriders ever had. The Doctor shook his head. "I want to help him. I want to stop Rayek. But you're right; the time for that will come. That fixed point has to have something to do with all this. But we'll have to let it come to us."

Wanting to help him heal, Firebrand said, "Tell me about your family."

He laughed out loud. "All right, all right. Let's see. Susan, my granddaughter. Oh, she'd have loved you! She was so innocent, for so long, and a sweeter child you've never met. She and I traveled together for nearly a hundred years."

For the next several hours, the Doctor regaled Firebrand with stories of Gallifrey, and of his travels with Susan, Barbara and Ian. It felt good to drag out those ancient tales and let them breathe, as well as thinking about his first family without thinking about the rest. Peace. That's what it was, and a rarer gift was never given to the last Time Lord. He knew it wouldn't last forever. But for once in his life he stopped worrying about the past and the future, concentrating on the Now, and for now, it was enough.

**DW**


End file.
